Practicing Dhamma: The Only Way to Connect With the Wholesome System at a Deep Level, Continuously

Phra Ajarn Suraphong opened by explaining that practicing Dhamma is necessary and essential for every life, because it is what connects us to the wholesome system at a deep level -- the only method capable of maintaining that deep connection continuously, producing purity and liberation in every single moment we practice. Whether the results of our practice seem good or not, that purity and liberation is happening the entire time, because for us to be able to practice at all, the wholesome system must already be taking its seat and directing us, so that we come to know and understand the principles and methods, and carry the practice forward. Even if we understand very little, the result still occurs.

Khun Yai compared it to a fist pounding the ground: strike down, and you hit the earth -- a result definitely follows, there's no such thing as no result at all, only a question of how much. It's like eating a meal: you eat, and you become full, whether a little full or a lot. But practicing Dhamma isn't something just anyone can pick up and do the moment they feel like it -- it requires an inherent disposition and accumulated merit from carrying the practice forward across lives. In truth, everyone has practiced before at some point; the question is only how long ago, in this recent lifetime, we let that practice lapse. If it was recent -- like practicing yesterday and the day before -- we can pick it back up today with ease.

Disposition and Spiritual Friends: Everyone Can Do It, But It Needs the Right Backdrop

If we let it lapse across many lifetimes, it becomes too distant to reconnect easily. But if the lapse is recent, if we've begun practicing at all in this life, then we can indeed do it. In truth, everyone can do it -- the only question is whether we encounter a spiritual friend (kalyanamitta). If we lack that inner disposition, we need an outer one: someone or something that points us toward learning and understanding -- encountering a book, feeling drawn to read it, coming to understand it and trying the practice, coming across information about meditation that catches our interest. All of this needs a backdrop. But if, in this recent lifetime, that backdrop -- our disposition toward renunciation (nekkhamma), or prior training in meditation -- has faded and been washed away over a long time, the strength of that renunciation is weak, and our meditation practice in this recent life isn't connected to that inner power. The chances of being guided are fewer, because the connection has faded too much, too weak to receive detailed inner guidance. So we need to make this life intensive -- when the opportunity arises, we must make full use of it.

Commit Seriously to One Meditation Object, Like Learning a Language or an Instrument

Making it intensive simply means learning to rely on one particular meditation object, then training in it until we become skilled. Whichever object has worked for us before, or one we're familiar with, one with a clear and continuous signal -- use that one. In this life, we need one meditation object we can truly rely on. If it becomes something we can depend on, we're set -- we can rely on it forever. But if we still cannot depend on any single object, we need to work harder at finding one.

This is exactly like learning a language, learning music, or playing sports -- it requires learning, understanding, and frequent practice. If you're learning a language, master one language fully first; don't abandon it halfway to start another, then abandon that one too for a third -- how could you ever become skilled that way? You can't. You must take one meditation object and master it -- but choose carefully. It's the same with music: if you switch from guitar to violin before mastering either, then switch again to piano, you master nothing. Sports are the same: a little basketball, then ping-pong, then tennis -- you become skilled at none of them. So we must take up one thing, one meditation object, and train in it until we're skilled, until we can truly rely on it. Learning in fits and starts makes it hard to master any language; practicing Dhamma is exactly the same -- only serious, committed practice develops step by step. It isn't enough to simply sit there thinking "I'm diligent because I sit" -- we must sit with genuine knowledge and understanding, and if we don't understand, we must ask.

The Core Principle: Determine to Know Clearly Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dhamma

The Fully Enlightened Buddha gave us this principle: "Monks, you should determine to know clearly the body, feelings, mind, and mental objects, in order to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world." This means he taught the monks that they must determine -- to determine is to mark, specify, or pinpoint where in the body: the breath, the center of the body, or simple bodily awareness. Once we've marked the position, we must go on to perceive it. Knowing is sati; clarity is sampajanna. If we determine on the breath, sati knows the breath -- the air touching the walls of the nostrils on the in-breath, touching them again on the out-breath -- we know this through the sense of touch as the air makes contact, staying aware continuously. All we need is for the sphere of knowing -- sati -- to be established, and once established, it must know what it is aware of: aware of the breath, aware as it enters, aware as it leaves. As the sphere of knowing rests on the sensation of breath touching the nostrils, once sati is firmly established, it draws in energy that flows continuously into the brightness of that sphere. That flowing-in energy then drives the wholesome system to clear away the defilement of the hindrances -- the very things that create problems, clinging, and difficulty in both life and practice.

Perceiving the Feelings, Thoughts, and Dhamma States That Arise at the Heart

Whether we're aware of the breath or the center of the body, wherever we place our awareness, the heart goes there. When the heart rests at the center of the body, sati arises there -- it can arise nowhere else, only at the heart. Once sati, being a wholesome Dhamma, is established, it draws in pure energy that flows in, refining the heart first, then refining the center of the body to be clear and clean. This position affects the sphere of Dhamma, the various states of Dhamma in that region, making them clear and pure. We may also determine to know directly at the heart -- knowing the feeling of pleasure, pain, or neutrality, or perceiving the mind as thought, or Dhamma as the mental factors (cetasika) that arise. If this isn't familiar to us yet, we make it familiar -- everything begins from unfamiliarity.

The heart is the seat of all Dhamma states. Wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral states can arise nowhere else but the heart. If we neglect to pay attention, to learn and perceive what arises there, we will never know it; but if we do pay attention, we come to understand that the heart holds a great deal -- feelings of pleasure, pain, and neutrality, and also thoughts. Whoever slips subtly in, we come to know it: the subtle thoughts of wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral natures appear within our own thinking. Whichever mind-moment possesses us is like being possessed by a ghost -- their thoughts appear as our thoughts, their guiding voices appear too. Whatever they want, they voice it as guidance, telling us to do this or that. This is not yet the natural forces themselves -- it is merely the mind-moment entering us as an automatic system, level by level, depending on which wavelength of state we're in at that moment; it tunes in at that level, takes its seat, and directs us. How dark the unwholesome is, how bright the wholesome is -- there are many levels; mind-moments themselves have as many as 89 levels, taking turns automatically.

What Possesses Us Appears as Our Own Feelings and Thoughts

The feelings and thoughts of whatever mind-moment possesses us appear as our own feelings and thoughts -- however it thinks, we know it, yet we believe it is our own thought. If we do not practice Dhamma, we have no way of ever knowing this; only through practice can we come to know it, to see the actual mechanism and workings of our own heart. If we merely give alms, keep precepts, and study Dhamma from books, we only come to know and remember it intellectually, then talk about it -- but if we actually practice, we come to know and understand the states of Dhamma that arise: the mind within the mind, the thought of the mind-moment that possesses us, the Dhamma within Dhamma -- the mental factors that are the mood of that mind-moment, superimposed onto our own heart.

Feeling and thought are different from vedana (feeling-sensation). Vedana -- pleasure, pain, neutrality -- belongs to the natural force that has taken the seat as host. But this realm of "Dhamma" consists of the varied mental factors of wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral states, each with its own distinct character. Wholesome states carry the qualities of sati, faith (saddha), moral shame and moral dread (hiri-ottappa), equanimity, and lightness of body and mind -- subtlety, gentleness, softness of heart, quickness of body and mind, and fitness for work. These are the mental factors that arise together with a wholesome mind. Unwholesome states, meanwhile, carry their own distinct character: delusion, restlessness and annoyance, the hindrances, greed, shamelessness, and fearlessness of wrongdoing -- these are the hallmarks of the unwholesome. When any of these takes its seat as host, we come to recognize which one it is: wholesome states carry the mark of the wholesome, unwholesome states carry the mark of the unwholesome, and behavior reveals it. Through practicing Dhamma, learning and understanding, we come to know and understand more and more, and we can compare what we discover with the Buddha's teachings. Once compared, we come to understand what is described in the Abhidhamma, the Suttanta Pitaka, and the Vinaya -- we come to understand it ourselves.

Resting in Equanimity, Reciting "Samma Arahang" Pleasantly, On and On

The purpose of practicing Dhamma follows what the Buddha taught: that monks should determine to know clearly the body, feelings, mind, and Dhamma, to understand reality as it truly is, and to eliminate covetousness and grief regarding the world -- the delight and disappointment over forms, smells, sounds, touches, and mental objects that make up this world; delighting or resenting, or neither. We do not go toward delight or disappointment; instead we rest in equanimity -- the mental factor called tatramajjhattata, which naturally arises together with wholesome states of mind. Once we dwell within the wholesome system, this quality of equanimity keeps us steady and unshaken. All it takes is determining to know, staying aware -- when subtler unwholesome influence tries to make us pleased or displeased, we recognize it as something being directed at us, and we simply remain neutral, not getting involved, continuing to determine on our meditation object. Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang, Samma Arahang -- one Buddha image appears, expands to encompass us, then expands vast and wide to encompass the whole world. Samma Arahang a second time, and a second Buddha image is established, expanding to encompass us more widely still. Continue on like this, enjoyably -- or simply sit in stillness, gathering the heart to a soft, gentle rest. Whatever we enjoy doing, whatever feels comfortable, we do that -- giving the heart some activity to engage with, staying aware that the heart is now focused on stilling itself, or on whichever meditation object, letting sati anchor and train continuously.

We must know what we are aware of -- this matters greatly. If we're aware but don't know what we're aware of, that means sati is starting to blur; ignorance is gradually creeping in, making it impossible to tell how substantial our awareness truly is. So we determine to know with a relaxed, easy heart -- no rushing, no hurrying, no self-pressure. Do it pleasantly, at ease, gradually learning, understanding, and training again and again.

The Defilement Bound to Any Dimension Is Finite, But Our Capacity to Draw In Energy Is Not

Once the sphere of knowing is established, it draws in the pure energy called merit to flow continuously into its brightness. This pure energy drives the wholesome system, refining and cleansing, clearing away all manner of defilement, bringing about purity and liberation. All we need to do is determine to know, staying aware without lapsing -- everything else is handled by the wholesome system itself; each side performs its own function without interfering with the other. Sati performs its function of drawing in merit -- sati is a wholesome Dhamma, and the role of wholesome Dhamma is to draw in that pure energy called merit. Merit, in turn, performs the function of countering defilement, clearing it away. Wholesome and unwholesome are natural enemies; purity and defilement, cleanliness and filth, are adversaries -- when they meet, one must be cleansed away. But a small amount of water always loses to fire; whichever side is smaller loses to the other.

But because defilement is limited -- the defilement bound to any given dimension is finite -- while our capacity to determine and know can draw in energy without any limit, as far as we determine, we determine. As we stay continuously aware, we continuously draw in pure energy, like ocean waves ceaselessly crashing against the shore, without end. However much defilement there may be, we draw in energy like those endless waves crashing the shore, and however much defilement there is, it is eventually exhausted, and we are freed from one dimension into another, on and on. Stay aware without lapsing, knowing what we know, staying with our meditation object which has a clear and continuous signal, letting sati anchor, rest, and be sustained, staying aware without lapsing -- the moment we lapse, ignorance slips in and unknowing arises. The single most important function of the human body is simply this: to determine, to watch over, to maintain unbroken awareness.

Loving-Kindness: Sustaining Both People and Beings, and the Environment Itself

Once we have brought about this wholesome benefit for ourselves, we go on to bring benefit to the world of beings, the world of aggregates, and the world of opportunity -- to all sentient beings and the entire environment: the earth, water, air, sky, the seas and oceans -- using the tool of the wholesome system called loving-kindness. The wholesome system relies on loving-kindness to sustain the world in comfort and peace, mutual support, and goodwill toward one another. All it takes is setting the wish, with sincerity and integrity -- not a shallow, half-hearted gesture -- that all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere.

If we cannot yet feel this fully, our late revered teacher advised us to draw upon the heart of a mother, full of love and goodwill toward her own small child, and let it arise within us -- we come to taste the sincerity of that love and goodwill. May all beings, our companions in the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere. We then extend this heart, brimming with loving-kindness, to encompass our home and dwelling; loving-kindness shines throughout every corner of the atmosphere, over the people, beings, and things within our home.

Phra Ajarn explained that the practice of Buddhism cannot easily flourish if the surrounding atmosphere and environment are not pure. Loving-kindness therefore does not merely help people and beings -- it also benefits the environment itself. Loving-kindness sustains the environment: the earth, water, air, sky, the atmosphere around people and beings, even our belongings, brick, stone, and sand, making them all clear and pure at the same time. Moonlight and sunlight cast a shadow wherever they shine, but the light of loving-kindness shines both outward and inward at once, casting no shadow at all -- radiant through every particle. The subtlety of loving-kindness reaches all the way into the pure element of Dhamma itself.

Radiating Loving-Kindness to the Boundless Universe, Following the Bodhisatta's Example

We extend this heart, brimming with loving-kindness, to encompass the whole village, the sub-district, district, province, neighboring countries and all nations, until it encompasses the entire world, making it a crystal world, bright, cool, clean, and pure. May the people of the world and all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere -- earthbound devas, sky-dwelling devas, celestial beings of every heavenly realm, formless Brahma gods, as well as beings in hell, hungry ghosts, and animals -- may all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere. We then extend outward to the atmosphere of the cosmos, encompassing millions of stars, continuing on to the ten thousand world-systems, the hundred thousand koti of universes, the infinite universe, letting our loving-kindness shine and benefit all beings, all things, and every element of Dhamma without limit.

Loving-kindness relies on the heart as its birthplace; wherever the heart extends, loving-kindness shines there too. The heart is a wish-fulfilling element -- whatever we determine, so it becomes. Whoever benefits the world and cosmos can, in turn, make use of the treasures of the world and cosmos, just as the great Bodhisatta did in ages past. When he was born on earth, he cultivated this very loving-kindness, benefiting people and beings until the end of his life, which brought him to the absorptions. When he closed his eyes and left the world, he enjoyed happiness in the Brahma realm, attaining the status of the Great Brahma, enjoying happiness there for an immensely long time, until his lifespan there ended and he returned once more to be born in the human world. This time he attained the status of a Universal Monarch, able to use the treasures of the world and cosmos to govern for the benefit of the world's people, making them live like heavenly beings -- upholding moral virtue, free of quarrels, generous and helpful toward one another, with no war at all, living in harmony like relatives, like siblings. Let us make regular use of this wondrous sphere of loving-kindness, for the benefit of people, beings, and all things.

Resting in the Triple Gem: Everyone Carries the Triple Gem Within

We gather our hearts to stillness within this radiant loving-kindness; the stream of merit continues pouring in continuously into its brightness, and we extend this share of merit and goodness to benefit people and beings, so they too may share in this merit we have sincerely built. May all beings be free from suffering and share happiness everywhere. We gather our hearts to stillness within the Triple Gem -- within the Buddha Jewel, the Dhamma Jewel, the Sangha Jewel. We need to merge ourselves with the Triple Gem into a single unity.

Phra Ajarn explained that Nibbana already holds all beings in its care. Whichever beings stand in wholesome virtue -- that itself is their own wholesome system, present within every person, an innate quality of their own, regardless of whether they know of Buddhism or not, regardless of whether they hold any religion at all. Everyone carries the Triple Gem within. When someone performs a universally wholesome deed with right and good conscience, they appear bright and radiant within Nibbana; the stream of merit pours through the center of their being, and Nibbana takes that merit-element flowing through and multiplies it, cleansing their defilement, connecting their stream of merit and treasure, clearing away karmic obstruction and Mara's interference, just as it does for us.

We rest within the utterly refined Dhamma body of our late revered teacher Luang Pu, within the utterly refined Dhamma body of Luang Phor, and within the utterly refined Dhamma body of Khun Yai. As we bring them to mind, we appear bright and clear within them, and they appear bright and clear within us; both we and they appear luminous within Nibbana, within the boundless, countless knowing beings of authority. These beings are the pure, liberated ones -- though they have passed on, they have not truly gone; they continue to benefit all who are born and all beings, without ceasing.

Setting the Aspiration and Asking Forgiveness for Past Wrongs

We take this occasion to pay respect and ask for their blessing, setting our aspiration and life-plan into the center of this radiant sphere of merit, throughout our entire path of building perfections from here on, through countless lifetimes, so that we may be complete with wisdom, happiness, and purity, together with the fulfillment of every rightful and wholesome wish. We ask for the merit, radiance, power, might, and unequivocal authority of Nibbana throughout all elements and all Dhamma, together with the blessing of our revered teachers, Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai. May all this merit combine with what we ourselves have sincerely accumulated since our very first existence, through countless lifetimes, up to this present moment, refining our body, speech, mind, and every element of Dhamma -- seeing, remembering, thinking, knowing, earth, water, wind, fire, space, and consciousness -- making them bright, cool, clean, and pure. May we be freed from sacred misfortune, from karmic results, from Mara's obstruction, and from every obstacle in life; may greed, hatred, delusion, lust, ignorance, wrong view, craving, and clinging dissolve entirely, leaving no trace.

May we gain the eye that sees the Dhamma, reaching and penetrating the knowledge of the Dhammakaya, achieving the three knowledges, the eight knowledges, the six higher powers, the four kinds of analytical insight, the eight liberations, and the fifteen conducts, complete in every respect, together with strong and complete health and a long lifespan, able to accumulate merit and perfections throughout our entire life, connecting our stream of merit and treasure, our life flourishing with human wealth, celestial wealth, and the wealth of Nibbana. Wherever we travel, may we meet only good fortune and safety, may we be loved by both humans and devas, may our wisdom shine bright and penetrate the Dhamma of the Fully Enlightened Buddha, and whatever work we undertake, may it flourish and yield results beyond what we could imagine, gaining treasures as vast as those of a Universal Monarch, given freely and without stinginess to build great generosity.

When the time comes to close our eyes and leave this world, may we be reborn in the Tusita heaven, in the special merit sphere reserved for great Bodhisattas, and when we return to build perfections in the human world, may we be born into a family of right view, a crystal family, a Dhammakaya family, a warm and model family for the world, complete with the utmost treasures of form, wealth, virtue, gain, honor, praise and happiness, the paths and fruits of liberation, and the knowledge of the Dhammakaya. May we have a vast and sacred sphere of merit, able to recall our past lives from birth, born together with a clear and radiant inner Dhammakaya, able to study the knowledge of the Dhammakaya correctly and faithfully with Luang Pu, Luang Phor, and Khun Yai from childhood until the end of our life. Whatever unwholesome deed we may have committed by mistake in the past, through countless lifetimes, may that unwholesome karma be unable to catch up with us, and may it become forgiven karma forever; may we commit no new unwholesome deed through body, speech, or mind. May all the merit we have sincerely accumulated combine together and yield its sacred, wondrous result, continuously from this moment onward, until the very end of Dhamma.

Closing Chant

Phra Ajarn Suraphong closed the sitting by leading the chant of homage to the Triple Gem: Sabbe Buddha balappatta, paccekana nca yam balam, arahantananca tejena, rakkham bandhami sabbaso. Sabba-Buddhanubhavena, sabba-Dhammanubhavena, sabba-Sanghanubhavena, sadda-sotthi bhavantu te.